Former Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has discussed how Andrea Agnelli was convinced to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and its side effects.
Ronaldo moved to Juventus shortly after winning the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2018 and the Portuguese star was tasked with helping the Bianconeri win European competition.
Arguably one of the most marketable footballers in the world, Juve believed the move would improve their balance sheet and make it easier for them to win an elusive UCL crown.
Ronaldo cost 117 million euros and earned 30 million euros per season, a huge investment by the bianconeri.
Ultimately, it became too much for them and they agreed to pay him out of their budget, which has now caused them problems.
Cobolli said via Football Italia:
“Agnelli was convinced to sign ronaldo because it would bring huge marketing revenue and bring Juve closer to the Champions League.
“However, Marotta did not agree with that at all and stepped aside. Subsequently, the investment in ronaldo it turned out to be too expensive. Meanwhile, Fabio Paratici, who had pushed for the signing of CR7, also made Juve make more investments that weighed on the balance sheet and put the club in trouble.”
Juve FC says
Investing in Ronaldo was a great idea because he was one of the best players in the world and he has a lot of marketing assets.
However, we spent more money than we made because we had it on the team and we’re paying for it now, which is sad.
But if we were to do it again, we’d probably still go for Ronaldo, because why shouldn’t we be interested in one of the best players in the world?
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